Directed By Andrew DeYoung

Starring – Tim Robinson, Paul Rudd, Kate Mara

The Plot – Suburban dad Craig (Robinson) falls hard for his charismatic new neighbor, Austin (Rudd), as Craig’s attempts to make an adult male friend threaten to ruin both of their lives.

Rated R for adult language and some drug content.

Friendship | Official Trailer HD | A24

POSITIVES

Comedy has always been the most subjective form of expressionism, and that sentiment has never felt as evident as it has with “Friendship”, a movie whose specificity in comedic material will directly divide audiences with its off-brand slice of humbling humor that responsibly evades the typical set-ups and deliveries of similarly structured comedies. Similar to Robinson’s Netflix original series, “I Think You Should Leave”, DeYoung and his direction revel in the depths of awkwardly cringe humor of the driest variety, often reaching forcefully towards suddenly sporadic deliveries, in order to elicit an element of shock to unsuspecting audiences. Understanding that this won’t be everyone’s idea of a romping good time aside, the material not only effectively mustered quite a few laughs to my experience, courtesy of Robinson’s brand of comedy mirroring DeYoung’s direction so seamlessly, but also helped articulate the bumpy burden of making friends during adulthood, which makes up a majority of Andrew’s thematic material. Aside from these stuffily awkward and occasionally embarrassing hang-outs between our group of male characters, DeYoung takes some unorthodox approaches towards the air of his atmosphere, courtesy of a synth-heavy score, Slipknot-dominated soundtrack, and fuzzy cinematography, in order to frame this movie towards feeling a gut-wrenching thriller that very well could break at any given moment alongside a character as erratically defined as Craig. The success factor stems from an engagement feeling so uncomfortable, especially for how so many of these interactions between characters feel so familiar to my own socially awkward anxieties, with everything from the trepidation of opening up to others, to the exhilaration of connection attaining an authenticity factor that feels surprisingly personal to DeYoung, proving the movie’s ambition reaches for so much more than being just another comedy meant to showcase Robinson’s eccentrically imbalanced personality as the elephant of sorts that typically pits him at odds with anyone who comes into his life. On that aspect, Tim Robinson feels like he was born for a role like this, not only with manically frantic deliveries in his comedic timing that extends the lifespan of every gag, but also the neuroses of the portrayal, which constantly make Craig feel like a proverbial bull in a China shop, destroying everything and everyone in his wake, yet never in ways that contradict everything that we’ve come to learn about the character. Though Craig is shamelessly irresponsible, especially when it comes to putting his wants above the needs of others, he evades unlikability, thanks in part to the earnestness that he deposits to the air of the portrayal, where regardless of the illogical attempts that went into him establishing a connection to others, I ultimately found myself wanting the best for him, serving as an evidential testament to Robinson’s endearing charm and childlike cadence that felt entertainingly overwhelmed in every situation that he finds himself in. Aside from Robinson, Paul Rudd picks up the pieces from an unfortunately disappointing role in “Death of a Unicorn”, with DeYoung’s sensibilities towards a distinct brand of humor serving Rudd’s stone-faced deliveries exceptionally. While the movie is so obviously a vehicle for Robinson’s talents, Rudd occasionally sneaks into frame to remind us of his charismatically captivating screen presence, this time with unforeseen dramatic depth as the movie’s straight man of sorts, that allows him the opportunity to do some legitimate acting, and though his character comes to be constantly at odds with Craig, Rudd still elicits a shot of adrenaline to scenes and sequences that would otherwise feel a bit redundant in concept and execution without his occasional input, and the result executes some authentically lived-in dimensions in chemistry between him and Robinson that I truly couldn’t get enough of. Lastly, I felt the movie’s pacing progressed surprisingly smooth throughout a 95-minute runtime, despite an episodic structure in material that could understandably be labeled as repetitious throughout the various set pieces. Part of the reason of this definitely coincides with the aforementioned variety of effective gags that demand your attention on account of so many unpredictable outcomes, but I also think much credit belongs to the movie’s editing, which keeps the flow of the story continuously moving forward, even when it feels like this movie has initiated everything that it is or will ever be within its opening ten minutes. Because of such, I never felt tumultuously tested or bored by what transpired, speaking volumes to the air of ambiguity that continuously hangs overhead throughout DeYoung’s direction, that captivates you continuously by a trainwreck between its characters constantly happening in slow motion.

NEGATIVES

DeYoung does properly conjure the anxieties and vulnerabilities associated with newfound friendships, but his artistic impulses aren’t without error, particularly in the contention within a screenplay that sacrifices telling a compelling story alongside such an entertainingly unorthodox comedy. While I previously mentioned how thorough the dissection is amongst Craig’s characterization, it’s ultimately the supporting characters who are undercooked and underutilized to the engagement, with Jack Dylan Grazer’s Steven, and Kate Mara’s Tami, lacking any vitality to the complexity of this story, despite an underlining angle about the mundanity of family life demanding more focus in the depths of the storytelling. None of this is at the fault of the actors, with each of them giving solidly impulsive work to their respective portrayals, but rather a sacrificial script that puts all of its eggs in the hat of this blossoming friendship, leaving very little time for the people in Craig’s life who should give him an appreciation for the things he has, instead of longing for the things he doesn’t. Beyond shallow characterization, the script is also hindered by an abundance of plot holes and contrivances, making it difficult to go along with what we’re seeing, regardless of what kind of movie DeYoung is aiming to enact. It’s difficult enough to believe that Craig somehow managed to land a woman like Tami, but it’s much tougher to go along with the air of developments meant to continuously push the storytelling forward, with a variety of emerging conflicts materializing outside of the dynamic between Craig and Austin, particularly one involving Craig and Tami venturing to a secretly dangerous place, in order to elicit a conflict distancing between them. There’s a hundred different ways that the movie could’ve properly materialized this, but because it’s a film starring Tim Robinson, it often reaches for the most elaborate means of executing such an intention, and considering the comedy is already full of so much exaggerated emphasis, I could’ve used more humanity within some of the set-ups, particularly those that inscribe stakes to what Craig is irresponsibly costing himself. Finally, while I previously commended the movie’s comedy for consistent gags that made this one of my three favorite comedies of the 2025 cinematic year, an imbalance of effectiveness has this feeling like a film of two halves, with far more dominance towards an opening half that seemingly had a laugh in nearly every scene. For whatever reason, maybe even the dramatics coming into play, the material sacrifices humor far more noticeably during its second half, and while I did appreciate the script zeroing in on some changes in development for Craig’s character, I didn’t like that it came at the cost of the movie’s single biggest appealing factor, and one that is the primary reason for so many of its Robinson-fanatic audience members to seek it out in the first place.

OVERALL
“Friendship” is a hilariously absurd and intentionally uncomfortable romp about toxic bromances and the remarkably irresponsible limits that we take in trying to attain them. Polished by an atmosphere-setting performance from Tim Robinson, as well as a thorough introspection towards the aspects of insecurities, the film is able to overcome some of its storytelling shortcomings, in turn cementing a foundation that feels like “I Love You Man” clashed with “The Cable Guy”, in order to conjure a feel-bad comedy that flourishes on frenzy

My Grade: 7.3 or B-